Guest Post: The Younger Self

I’m crazy and didn’t originally write an intro for Alex. Remember when I said work was busy? I did not lie. So, I got her post all pretty and ready and then realized after it went up that I had not mentioned how awesome and kind and just plain great she is. Oh, well. She’s so awesome she’ll forgive me.

Love ya, Alex! Thanks for sharing!! —- I’m Alex, from the saga of a twenty-something, and I am beyond honored that our dear friend Kristie has asked me to guest post for her today as a part of her Spring Fling series. Like…thrilled. Because, let’s be honest here, Kristie is the bomb dot com, and if she thinks I’m cool enough to ransack her blog for a day, well…that makes me pretty freaking cool, right?

Just go with me here.

So Kristie didn’t give me a lot of guidelines to go with here, so I’m just winging it. I thought I’d write my younger self a letter. I’ve done this before on my blog, but I want to give it another go. So… here it goes.

Dear me,

Don’t worry, you’ll lose the baby fat. But your cheeks will still be massive, even when you’re on the cusp of 24

You’re going to need glasses, and it’s going to be miserable because Mom won’t let you get contacts until you can pay for them yourself. But one day, you will be able to pay for them.

Dad will leave. Mom and Dad will get divorced. It will be painful and traumatic and sad. Oh, so very sad. And you will be very bitter and angry for years. You will feel upset and betrayed for all of those years you spent being Daddy’s little girl. But one day, you will realize that your life is significantly better because of the things you’ve overcome.

Your teenage years will be rough. You’ll be sad a lot of the time and you’ll pick some bad friends and you’ll make some bad decisions. You won’t be popular in the generic sense of the word, but you know what? That’s ok. You’re a great person.

Don’t spend so much time worrying what other people think of you. It’s not worth it. I know it’s hard to hear and accept, but you’re a beautiful person. You need to know that. Not many people will tell you that until you’re older. But never, ever forget that.

You’ll find love (but not in a hopeless place har dee har), and it will be magical. It will be comfortable and familiar, exactly as it should be.

Don’t be afraid to dream big. There’s nothing wrong with having high aspirations. That’s something no one will ever be able to take away from you.

Friends will come and go, and they’ll do some shitty things to you and you’ll do some shitty things to them. Girls are mean, and I still can’t explain why they do a lot of the things they do. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of those girls who make you cry and for all of their mean, thoughtless words. I wish I could take all of the pain away from you, make you realize you’re so much better than that. But I can’t. I can’t control them. And for that, I am so sorry.

You’re going to grow your hair super long and then cut it all off because you think that’s what adults do. That’s really dumb.

All in all, life is going to throw you some curveballs. But don’t worry; nothing ever will catch you off guard.